Pulled Apart By Horses - Hippodrome – 30/09/10

I think its fair to say that after a couple of years of solid touring playing every hole, hovel and toilet in and around our fair Isle, Pulled Apart By Horses are really starting to reap the rewards for all of their hard efforts and tonight’s exuberant performance demonstrated why. After a successful year playing some of the biggest support slots going, including gigs with Biffy Clyro at the Roundhouse and with Muse, the lovingly loud Leeds Lads have really started to develop a huge following and playing the now very highly regarded New Slang night, you are able to see just how many people are going nuts for Horses right now. The venue itself resides for most of the week as one of the most tacky, chavvy clubs I’ve ever been to, sticky floors, neon lights and a metal detector (sign of a classy joint) greet you on the way in, and as discussed with the band before hand ‘lot’s of dark corners for finger fucking!’ But the promoters have built up a good reputation and the cheapness and size of the venue means it’s always packed full of kids and in fact tonight was probably the busiest I’ve ever seen it.

Anticipation was high and it took about 30 seconds into their opener Moonlit Talons for the pit to open and people in and around it to go absolutely mental. Horses ripped through their set with pure venom, lead singer Tom Hudson screaming at the top of his lungs and darting about the stage with the energy of a teen with his first overdose on pro plus, this energy on stage really rubbed off on the punters who flew out of each other with such force it was like watching a scene out of 300, minus the swords. Theirs is a sound that really can cater for big stages and audiences and they were revelling in the fact that so many people were there, as Hudson grabbed the mike and launched into the crowd all I could see was a sea of kids charging towards him, before guitarist James Brown suggested they started a circle pit to which the fans were only too happy to comply.

Their self titled début album was played pretty much in the full with unrelenting heavy, bluesy riffs, with the noise of Get off my Ghost Train sounding like a hurricane directed straight at the ears, High Five, Swan Dive, Nose Dive sounding more vast live, in effect, the most catchy piece of noise to come from this country in a long time and the finale Den Horn, a 7 minute onslaught of beatdowns, riffs and dirgy bass was the only proper send off for a band seemingly getting bigger and better all the time.

Words : Gordon Reid
Photos : James Perou

Pulled Apart By Horses – 'Pulled Apart By Horses' (Transgressive)

So it’s finally here. After 2 years of countless shows, (what seems like) endless touring, and a bunch of singles released on some of the finest UK Indie record labels such as Dance to the Radio and Big Scary Monsters, before landing with Transgressive. From that, Leeds quartet Pulled Apart By Horses have built up a hardcore fan base and finally done the honourable thing for them and got round to releasing their debut LP. Hooray!

Their self titled album on record has shown that they can transfer their incredible live energy onto plastic. Having previously released older versions of ‘Meat Balloon’ and ‘I Punched a Lion in the Throat’, the first full single to feature on this record is the opening track. The aptly titled ‘Back to the Fuck Yeah’ demonstrates Pulled Apart By Horses’ no nonsense, fun loving attitude. A title that even to the unheard listener will indicate that these boys know how to party and it continues in this vein throughout. The mathy time signature and tempo changes on ‘High Five, Swan Dive, Nose Dive’ is a fine example of how talented musicians they are. ‘Yeah Buddy’ shows that there is a melodic Pop-Punk influence to their sound whilst still maintaining that hardcore edge. Whereas ‘PABH’ climaxes with a seven minute belter in ‘Den Horn’ with heavy metal riffs that are drowned in a sea of feedback and noise.

One thing that may be flawed on this release is that amongst the 11 solid punk gems, they combined new tracks with some older numbers that they wrote early during the bands formation. However, the plus side with this is that it does give us a recorded demonstration of how their live show is portrayed on stage.

Often with debut releases, here PABH’s self titled has ultimately set up a digital platform explaining ‘This is who we are and this is what we do!’ Tom Hudson’s screaming vocals are as consistent as it is flawless. The bass and guitar are tight and rawkuss, with not an off note in hearing and the pounding drums carries their sound to create an album that is set to be one of the house party soundtracks of the summer.

Words: Freddy Rothman

Middle Boop Single of the week - Pulled Apart By Horses - Back To The Fuck Yeah

After a gruelling few years worth of touring with the likes of Future Of The Left, Leeds based heavy rock four piece Pulled Apart By Horses can finally make their own mark by releasing their début album today, we are honouring the release by giving their excellent 'Back To The Fuck Yeah' a well deserved single of the week.

The title perfectly summarises this two and a half minute blast of screams, loud/quiet break downs and heavy, well produced guitar riffs. There's enough groove here to get that head nodding incessantly and enough full frontal force to get you thinking about the days not too long ago when Britain actually had a decent heavy music scene.

It's been a few years since a decent heavy British rock band has really created anything of value but I reckon we could have a winner on our hands with these guys, with a tight blend of catchy yet heavy songs giving them a large appeal. Pulled Apart By Horses are set to be a hit.